News Release

March 26, 2007

Boise State Engineering Prof Megan Frary Honored by NSF for Exceptional Promise in Teaching, Research
Recent MIT grad receives $488,457 award to build her research program
 

Boise State engineering professor Megan Frary studies a computer-generated map that shows the microstructure of nickel. The different colors correspond to different grains.

Less than two years after receiving a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boise State University engineering professor Megan Frary has received the National Science Foundation’s most prestigious award for early career faculty.

Frary, an assistant professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, will receive $488,457 over five years as part of the NSF CAREER program. The program recognizes outstanding faculty from across the nation who have shown exceptional ability in integrating research and teaching, and who are most likely to become the academic leaders of the 21st century.

The NSF grant will support Frary’s research program, and will also provide funding for Boise State graduate and undergraduate students to work in her lab.

“I feel very honored to receive this recognition from the NSF, especially so soon after coming to Boise State,” said Frary, who joined the College of Engineering faculty in fall 2005. “I have found that learning really comes alive for my students when they can apply new concepts in a laboratory setting. This NSF grant will help me build a vibrant research program that also benefits my students.”

Frary received a bachelor’s and master’s degree from Northwestern University before earning a doctorate at MIT. Her research program involves studying the microscopic boundaries or interfaces between the grains that make up a metal. These boundaries are subject to damage by corrosion and cracking, but the application of high temperatures and pressure can result in boundaries which behave in novel ways.

Frary’s research has the potential to improve the manufacturing processes for everything from aerospace components to car parts to the energy production industry. “I enjoy looking at fundamental problems. It’s like a puzzle; I like to figure out the cause and effect,” Frary explained.

Frary is the principal investigator for a $120,000 grant from the Idaho National Laboratory and a $30,000 grant from the NASA Idaho Space Grant Consortium. She is also the co-principal investigator with engineering professor Darryl Butt on a $494,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy for high-temperature nuclear materials research.

Sharla Hopkins, a sophomore majoring in materials science and engineering from Meridian, said that she has been inspired and challenged by working in Frary’s lab as a paid research assistant, and by listening to her lecture in the classroom. Hopkins is among the many BSU undergraduates who, very early in their college careers, have had opportunities to conduct hands-on research that at many universities is reserved for graduate students.

“I think Dr. Frary’s biggest strength is that she really wants you to learn,” said Hopkins. “She really goes the extra mile to make that happen.”

After graduating from MIT, Frary could have taken a job at any one of a number of top universities across the nation, said Amy Moll, chair of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering. Frary chose Boise State because of the College of Engineering’s commitment to integrating research and teaching and the opportunity to help build a new program in the university’s young engineering college.

“For Dr. Frary to receive this NSF career award during only her second year at the university, and on her first try, speaks to just how outstanding she is,” Moll added. “This is the award people in the halls of the NSF talk about as the measure of exceptional promise. Dr. Frary certainly meets that high standard.”

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Contact: Megan Frary, College of Engineering, (208) 426-1061, meganfrary@boisestate.edu
Media contact: Janelle Brown, University Communications, (208) 426-1790, jbrown2@boisestate.edu

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Last reviewed on Tuesday, April 10, 2007